The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting at the Dent County Courthouse Thursday morning. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell reported that grading would be done on Dent County Roads 5690, 6520, 6540 and 6590; and material would be hauled and ditch work would be done on Dent County Road 4180. Purcell also attended a Homeland Security Oversight Committee yesterday afternoon in St. James. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported that grading would be done on Dent County Roads 4030 and 4400, and rock would be hauled to Dent County Roads 4290 and 4300. Larson also said that one brush cutter is being repaired, but the other brush cutter would be used on Dent County Road 2330. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported that he along with other members of emergency response entities met with Dent County Emergency Management Director Brad Nash to discuss the 2010 Interoperable Communications proposal that was received from Interoperable Solutions, which was the only company to submit a proposal. The proposal was for $35,000 with a five-year annual fee of $3,500, and that would also include licensing fees. The Commission would like to go ahead and acquire the equipment, but is waiting to see which other emergency response entities are willing to share in the cost before a definite decision is made. Skiles also talked with a representative from Verkamp and Malone about the proposal they presented concerning the year required 2010 audit that they would be conducting due to the county receiving over $500,000 in federal money. Their initial proposal was for an indefinite amount of $10,000 to $12,000, however the state conducted their audit of the county for the years 2008 and 2009, and that paperwork was submitted to Verkamp and Malone, therefore relieving the company of some work and knocking their initial proposal down to $7,500. After a short discussion the commission agreed to go ahead and accept their proposal. The commissioners also discussed moving forward with Great River Associates Engineering Firm on the Swiney Bridge project in Bunker. The cost will be $25,000 for the design of the bridge and for them to oversee the project. Since the county will be receiving financial assistance from the Missouri Department of Conservation and the National Forest Service on this project, an amended budget hearing will be held on August 8th at 10:00 in the morning. The projected amended budget will be made available to the public on Tuesday, July 26th. Matt Lloyd with Fabick and Company also stopped in to touch base with the Commissioners on the backhoe proposal. The Commission decided to go ahead and accept Fabick and Company’s bid and they will be looking into local financing options for the lease purchase. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse, and is open to the public.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education held their regular meeting Thursday evening at the district administrative offices. Superintendent Cindy Rumpf was not present so Assistant Superintendent John McCulloch ran the meeting. The board set the Open House dates and times. They are 6:00 to 7:00 on August 15th for the William Lynch Elementary School and from 6:30 to 7:30 the same night at the Upper Elementary School. The Senior High and Junior High will hold their Open House from 6:30 to 8:00 Tuesday night, August 16th. The board will also take their tours of the buildings at that time. He reported that in the annual bus inspection, 11 of the 12 busses were approved and one needed a new tie rod end which has been repaired. Because Salem exceeded the 90% approval rating, they received the Total Fleet Excellence Award. This is the 7th year in a row that Salem has received that award. Stan Podorski from KSMO Radio and Gabe Mankin from Fidelity Communications discussed the new Fidelity Local Channel 6 and that there are ten fall Salem Tiger Sporting events scheduled to be televised by Salem students on a delayed basis including all five home football games. Mankin stated that this is just the beginning of bringing local events to TV to the Salem area and that the events will also be available live on the web on a subscription service or on demand. In the future, Fidelity hopes to expand the service to other school and local events on their public access channel which is now Channel 95 as well as on Channel 6. The board approved the bids on school surplus property and the amount the school will receive will be $320. The board approved the bid on food items from US Foodservice, the bid on Bread from IBC Sales Corporation, the bids on milk and juice from Hiland Dairy, and the bid from pest control from Advanced Pest Control. The board approved reprimanding Board Member Carol Jordan for the dissemination of unfounded rumors by a vote of 4-1-1. The board accepted the resignation of Elementary School Para-Professional Julie Hatridge, and the board approved a Professional Development Contract with Dr. Wesley Byrd for $27,000 to share in classroom strategies with math teachers from kindergarten through the 6th grade four times a month with a review at the end of the year to see what strategies worked best. The board then went into closed session.

The Salem Football Tigers will host a “mini jamboree” tonight starting at 6:30 at the Salem High School Football Field. Teams involved in the “mini jamboree” will include Rolla, West Plains and Blair Oaks. The “mini jamboree” is open to all.

Albert Pujols clubbed a two-run homer and Jake Westbrook tossed eight solid innings, as the St. Louis Cardinals avoided a three-game sweep with a 6-2 victory over the New York Mets at Citi Field. Westbrook (8-4) allowed two runs on four hits with one walk for the Cardinals, who snapped their losing streak at three games. Skip Schumacher and John Jay also had RBI’s for the Cardinals who start a three game set with Pittsburgh tonight starting at 5:30 on KSMO.

The Kansas City Royals had the day off yesterday and will host the Tamp Bay Rays starting tonight at Kaufmann Stadium.

Funeral services for Carl R. Baker of Salem will be held today at 11:00 at the James 7 Gahr Mortuary in Salem. Interment will be in the Empire Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the Empire Cemetery in Gladden.

Funeral services for Ruth Louise Mullnack of Salem, age 88, will be held today at 2:00 at the Wilson Mortuary Chapel in Salem. Interment will be in the North Lawn Cemetery.

Funeral services for Delbert D. “Tod” Counts, Salem, will be held Sunday at 2:00 at the James & Gahr Mortuary in Salem. Visitation will be Saturday from 5:00 to 7:00. Interment will be in the New Hope Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the New Hope Cemetery.

Funeral services for Lillian Faye Beasley of Rolla, age 74, are incomplete and under the direction of the James & Gahr Mortuary in Rolla.

Today..Mostly sunny, hot and humid, high of 96 with a heat index of 106.
Tonight..Mostly clear, low of 78.
Saturday..Partly cloudy, hot and humid, with a 20% chance for thunderstorms, high of 95 with a heat index of 102.
Saturday night..Partly cloudy, low of 74.
Sunday..Partly sunny, with a 40% chance for thunderstorms, high of 93.